


Bring the Tomorrow

by Deb_ii_o3o



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Sci-Fi, ZAGR - Freeform, datr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-07-20 13:55:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19993321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deb_ii_o3o/pseuds/Deb_ii_o3o
Summary: Several years have passed, and all of them overcame their differences. It was like everything was right with the world for once as the Irkens and the Membranes now had an united family, only didn’t they know the dangers that raising those kids would bring to them… (ZaGr/DaTr).





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or its characters. Also, I don't speak English 100% fluently, so bear with me. I'll try to work and fix any mistakes I make in this story.**
> 
> **On another side note, this story is based off of the show. I didn't get the chance to read the comic, yet.**
> 
> **Also, in case you're wondering, here're the characters' ages where the story takes place:**
> 
> **Zim: 43 Earth years old/440 Irken years old**
> 
> **Gaz: 39 years old**
> 
> **Ada: 12 years old**
> 
> **Dib: 40 years old**
> 
> **Tak: 45 Earth years old/460 Irken years old**
> 
> **Kitten: 15 years old**
> 
> **George: 15 years old**

A lot of things could change in sixteen years of someone’s life, specially if that someone was Gaz Membrane. Even though she became accustomed with the idea of having feelings for Zim and being his wife, that couple was still weird-looking to the eyes of many viewers, but it wasn’t like they paid mind to what they said behind their backs. They were happy together, and that was all that mattered. They were taking slow steps higher in their relationship, because even though a lot could change in sixteen years of someone’s life, Gaz was still her secluded self. Lucky hers, Zim was patient towards her, he just loved her too much to push her into doing things she didn’t want to do, but it was that very night that she took another step higher…

Zim and Gaz where watching TV in the living room with GIR. She agreed on moving in with him years ago when they started getting serious, and Zim had to make a few changes to his base to adequate it to Gaz’s needs and the humans’ “normal” standards. The living room was pretty much the same, but he reformed his bedroom and kitchen to make them look “normal” and make Gaz feel comfortable. He also installed a garage for Gaz’s car, since she couldn’t be taking his Voot Runner everywhere she went. They snuggled in the couch with GIR, who surfed channels nonstop. They would get annoyed by it if they weren’t really paying attention to the TV. While Zim had his mind elsewhere, Gaz thought about the best way to tell him what she so eagerly wanted to.

“Zim…” She called and he looked down at her hazel eyes. “You know, I’ve been thinking… Maybe it’s time for us to start trying.”

Zim was speechless, his eyes widening in surprise. That was the moment he most expected to happen in their marriage. It’s been two years after all, and he was just waiting for Gaz to take the first step.

“Are you sure?” He whispered. “A kid is a very important step in a marriage.”

“I know.” Gaz looked down embarrassed. “But… Dib and Tak already have the twins and… I think we’re ready.”

Zim smiled tenderly, adjusting himself in the seat to hold her tighter. “You know how much I want this.” He whispered, stroking her hair behind her ear. “Let’s do this.”

Gaz smiled suggestively. “You know… I just got my period yesterday.”

Zim smiled awkwardly at that. He was already aware of her cycle, she didn’t really need to bring up the subject of human bodily fluids, but he shoved it off all the same, kissing her lips and picking her up in his arms in bridal style, passing by GIR, who was completely unaware of what was happening and carried her into their bedroom.

* * *

Zim waited impatiently on the outside of the bathroom. He leaned against the corridor wall just waiting for the so-expected result.

“What’s taking so long in there, Gaz?” He exclaimed.

“Chill, Zim!” Gaz exclaimed back from the other side of the door. “I’m in here for only one minute, and there’s another minute to wait!”

“I don’t understand why you don’t let me see the result with you.” Zim complained. “I’m part of this as well!”

“Yeah, but I have the right to see it first-hand!” Gaz challenged.

Zim grumbled. He was patient towards her, yes, but he still didn’t like that daring side of her so much. Just then, Gaz walked out of the bathroom holding a pregnancy test with a blue tip in her hand, smiling up at Zim. He was just about to ask her something when she spoke.

“It’s positive.” She whispered. “We did it.”

The words died in Zim’s mouth as he took Gaz in his arms, hugging her tightly. He kissed her head before backing away to stare into her crying face with tears sprouting from his eyes as well, both holding a huge smile.

“We did it.” Gaz whispered again and Zim nodded.

“We should gather everybody to tell them the news.” Zim said.

“My dad will probably hate you for this.” Gaz said playfully.

“Aw, c’mon!” Zim smiled playfully. “He won’t hate me for giving him another grandchild!”

“Maybe.” Gaz rolled her eyes.

They hugged again, staying like that for several minutes, not able to wipe the smile off their faces in what was probably the happiest moment of their lives.

* * *

The whole family gathered in Dib and Tak’s living room later that day, including Professor Membrane, who was getting more omnipresent in his kids’ lives as time passed and he slowly reached his retirement. The adults sat on the bigger couch, and the three-year-old twins sat on an armchair by the side of their mother as Zim and Gaz stood before them, about to make the important announcement. Zim and Tak weren’t wearing their disguises in front of Professor Membrane, since he already knew the secret by now.

“Alright.” Zim started, with a big smile on his face. “We have a big announcement to make.”

“You already said that.” Dib complained, rising a brow.

“Come on, Zim. Spit it out!” Tak complained as well. “You’re making us impatient here.”

“I would love to, but I guess I’ll just let my wife do the honors.” Zim motioned to Gaz, giving her a reassuring look and she looked from him to her family embarrassed.

“Well…” Gaz started. “I… We… Well, after these two years, we just thought that it was time and… You know-“

“She’s pregnant.” Zim cut her off, making everybody in the room widen their eyes at them.

“Zim!” Gaz complained.

“I’m sorry, but you were just taking too long!” Zim said.

“How can you even say it like that?! I-!” Gaz cut herself off when she noticed her father getting up and walking towards a corner of the room. “Dad?” Gaz asked when Membrane collapsed, holding his knees and starting to sob. Gaz walked up to him worried. “Dad, are you okay?”

“If I’m okay?” Membrane turned his head back to stare at his daughter. “How can I be okay knowing something like that?”

“Dad…” Gaz said slowly, kneeling by his side. “Don’t worry, you didn’t lose a daughter, you just got another grandchild.”

Membrane stared at Gaz’s smiling face before taking her in a suffocating hug, sobbing incoherent words on her neck.

“Yeah, okay dad…” Gaz said with apparent discomfort on her tone. “I love you too, but you’re hurting me.”

“Geez, dad…” Dib let out, staring at the scene behind them with a quirked eyebrow.

“Um…” They heard one of the twins calling their attention and looked down at the girl. “How many cousins are we having?” She asked innocently.

Zim chuckled at that. “That’s cute, but we still can’t know if we’re having twins as well, Kitten.”

“Uhm…” Kitten lowered her head thoughtfully. “But… it’s a girl, right?”

The adults around her laughed and she looked up at them confused.

“That’ll take a while to find out, sweetie.” Tak smiled at her daughter.

“Well, I just hope it’s a girl, then.” Kitten crossed her tiny arms. “’Cause G is a pain.”

“If anyone’s a pain here, that would be you.” Her brother complained and Kitten stuck her tongue out at him.

“Hey, stop it you two!” Tak demanded, then turned to her son. “And how about you, George? What do you think of getting a cousin?”

George shrugged, suddenly embarrassed of having all the attention driven to him.

“Hey.” Tak ruffled his hair. “You don’t need to be shy, but you’re happy about it, right?”

George nodded shyly, a small smile appearing on his lips and Zim smiled at the scene in front of him. He couldn’t wait to meet his first child.

“Okay, now…” Zim called everybody’s attention. “We should get that barbecue going, right? I’m starving.”

“Hey!” Gaz exclaimed from the corner of the room where her father kept hugging her and sobbing. “Will you help me with this for once?”

Zim and Dib quickly walked up to them, helping calm Membrane down while Tak and the twins watched them. The next moment they were at the backyard having lunch. Gaz and Tak sat on the picnic table talking while Professor Membrane took care of the grill. Zim himself went inside to grab a beer, that was when Dib took the chance, going after him.

“Zim.” He called as Zim searched in the fridge. “We need to talk.”

Zim sighed. “I know.” He started as he took two cans of beer from the fridge, handing one of them to Dib. “I got your sister pregnant, you can rain your doom upon my head now.”

“That has nothing to do with what I was gonna say, you lizard!” Dib complained, opening the can in his hand.

“What is it, then?” Zim asked confused, opening his can as well.

“Look…” Dib sighed. “I just want you to know that, whenever you two need our help, we’ll be there for you, okay?”

Zim looked at Dib surprised as he finished taking a sip from his beer. “Thank you, Dib.” He smiled, looking down embarrassed.

“Hey, that’s what family is for.” Dib smiled, placing a reassuring hand on Zim’s shoulder. “Also… I guess I should run you through the complications you’re getting before they happen.”

“What kind of complications?” Zim asked worried by the tone of his brother-in-law.

“I didn’t really need to go through that with Tak, but Gaz is human after all.” Dib explained. “Pregnancy is a heavy burden for a human, so she can experience a lot of pain and other stuff.”

“Such as…?” Zim asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Mood swings is a good example.” Dib said, taking a sip from his beer. “And she can probably say and do things she’ll regret in the middle of it, but just know that she doesn’t mean it.”

Zim sighed looking behind Dib’s shoulder, who followed his gaze to the window behind him, which had a perfect view to Tak and the soon-to-be mother as they talked happily on the picnic table.

“I know.” Zim said slowly. “But I won’t let that stay between us.”

“Are you willing to go to the end with this?” Dib asked sternly.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for too long.” Zim said. “Of course I am.”

Dib smiled, placing a reassuring hand on Zim’s shoulder one more time before turning his back on him and leaving to the backyard as Zim watched him leave. Zim smiled at himself, taking a sip from the can in his hand as he followed Dib outside. That was the happiest moment in his life and nothing could ruin it.

* * *

“My Tallests.” An Irken navigator approached.

“What is it?” Tallest red sighed annoyed, spinning his chair to face him.

“I must warn you that…” The navigator trailed off. “Another hybrid is on the way.”

The Tallests fell in a mortal silence at that, but their expressions remained unreadable.

“Is it Zim’s?” Tallest red asked, unusually calm.

“I’m afraid so.” The navigator answered uneasy.

The Tallests sighed, spinning their chairs so that their backs were facing him.

“We’ll wait.” Tallest purple said. “We have other things to worry about, now.”

“But, my Tallests…” The navigator started. “I mean no disrespect, but don’t you think we’ve waited long enough? Those hybrids could be a threat to the empire.”

“A threat? No…” Tallest red started. “Insulting? Definitely. Patience, we still don’t know their reasons. But one thing is for sure… We _will_ be coming for them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuun! What do you think of this idea? I didn’t really want to write a story about the gang’s children, but I’ve been having this idea and couldn’t help myself. ;v; I’ll start portraying them in their teenage hood from the next chapter on. The events of this chapter are happening about twelve years in the past by the way, but I set the characters’ ages for the events that’ll take place for the rest of the story.
> 
> P.S.: The story will be focusing more on the children, so the gang won’t show as much as I’d like to. Just wanted to make that clear. :p


	2. Chapter 2

An alarm clock resonated when it struck six AM. The sleeping figure under the covers groaned as it was interrupted from its slumber. A four-digit hand with natural black nails crawled from under the covers, searching for the turn off button, silencing the sound abruptly. It took a moment for the sleeping figure to gather the courage to slip out of the covers, not wanting to get up for another day and just wishing to stay in bed for a little longer. The twelve-year-old half Irken girl soot on her bed yawning heavily, taking her time to finally get up and get dressed. She squeezed her eyes shut in annoyance as she stood up and went to prepare herself for another day. The half Irken walked through the halls of her house when she was already dressed, heading to the kitchen. Her house was reformed years ago for her arrival, and now she had to share a room with the malfunctioning SIR unit, GIR, who slept on a dog bed at the corner of their room. The girl groggily dragged her feet into the kitchen to meet her parents, who were already awake and having breakfast.

“Good morning.” She yawned, greeting them.

“’Morning.” Her mother greeted back.

“Hey, sunshine!” Her father said cheerily.

The girl soot on the table next to them and served herself with some grilled cheese. Her father stared at her from the corner of his eyes as she took small, delicate bites from her sandwich. For him, she was just as beautiful as her mother. She had a yellowish green skin, long, reddish dark brown hair with tied-up bangs and a small pair of antennae that hid under the red cap she wore. Small nose, small pointy ears, thin eyebrows and big, reddish eyes with barely visible pupils, which made people always wonder if she was blind but, in reality, she could see better than any human. Not as well as an Irken, but she would never have the need to wear glasses at least, and that was one of the advantages of being half Irken.

“Hey.” The girl spoke, breaking the silence that fell between them. “I’m going to play with some friends after skool today, so I’ll get home a bit late.”

“Ada, we’re going to that carnival this evening. Don’t you remember?” Her mother said, pushing a strand of her shoulder-length purple hair behind her ear.

“I know.” Ada replied as GIR eyed her grilled cheese hungrily. “I already told them I have to be home by four.”

Ada couldn’t react before the SIR unit bit her sandwich, running away with it in his mouth.

“GIR!” Her father complained at the robot.

Ada sighed, fetching herself another grilled cheese.

“But will you be home by four?” Her mother asked.

“Did I ever arrive late on anything?” Ada asked matter-of-factly.

“Well, you’re always late for skool.” She replied.

“But this is different!” Ada said with a pouty face.

“Gaz, I know this is important, but she also has the right to practice with her friends.” Zim said, smiling at his wife. “And I know that she’ll be in time, don’t you trust her on that?”

“I do.” Gaz replied annoyed. “I’m just saying that she could get distracted and lose track of time.”

“Don’t worry, she won’t. Right, princess?” Zim winked at Ada’s direction.

“Right.” Ada smiled at her father, finishing her breakfast before standing up. “I’m leaving to skool.”

“Bye.” Zim said.

“Bye. And don’t be late!” Gaz said.

“I won’t.” Ada said simply before passing by the doorframe.

* * *

Dib sat on the kitchen table while sipping on his coffee and running his fingers through a tablet that sat on the tabletop, with his eyes glued to the screen. He looked up when he saw his fifteen-years-old daughter entering the kitchen.

“’Morning.” She greeted.

“’Morning.” Dib greeted back.

Kitten walked up to him and rested a hand on the tabletop.

“Hey, dad…” She called and Dib hummed questioningly as he continued sipping on his coffee. “Can I get a tattoo?”

Dib choked and almost spat his coffee, looking up at his daughter.

“Did you ask your mom?” He asked when he stopped coughing.

“Yeah.” Kitten replied.

“And what did she say?” Dib rose an eyebrow.

“Go ask your dad.” Kitten answered impatiently.

“Really? How cute is that, am I right?” Dib smiled up at her, going back to his coffee.

Kitten pouted at her father, walking up to the fridge and searching its inside.

“Hey, just so you know I’m gonna meet with a guy after skool, today.” Kitten announced.

“When will you be back?” Dib asked.

“Around four.” Kitten replied, opening a can of poop cola in her hand and taking a sip from it.

“Hey!” Dib called. “Put that back! No soda for breakfast!”

“But it’s early, I’m tired and I need caffeine.” Kitten defied.

“Then drink coffee!” Dib exclaimed to her.

Kitten grumbled, placing the can back in the fridge and serving herself with some coffee. Dib shook his head. He wished she would behave, but there was no way to control it. Even though she was considered “off-looking” for human standards, there was no way to deny that she was beautiful and had boys all over her. Kitten, as well as Ada, had a yellowish green skin, only a bit paler. She was tall with a long face shape adorned with two cute specks, big fuchsia eyes with barely visible pupils, small nose and small pointy ears, small curly antennae that hid under her black beanie and a black waist-length hair with her bangs dyed in blue. They heard a yawn from the door and looked up at George, who groggily dragged his feet into the kitchen.

“Good morning.” The boy greeted, rubbing his eye.

“’Morning, champ.” Dib greeted back.

“You look like you could use some coffee.” Kitten pointed out.

“Please.” George said as he walked up to the table, sitting by the side of his father and resting his head on his arms, closing his fuchsia eyes.

Kitten smiled at him and poured some coffee into another mug, handing it to him.

“Thanks.” George said, taking the mug.

Kitten joined them on the table, eyeing her brother as she too took sips from her coffee. They long reached the age for George to grow passed her, which made people ask them if he was older and that annoyed Kitten. They were twins and she was the older one but, even though she didn’t show it much, she did love him. He was very kind and polite after all, but they were brother and sister, so her relationship with him consisted in a friendly sibling rivalry. Sometimes she wondered how he barely dated anyone, he looked very cute with that multiple-layered, black bowl cut and freckles, maybe that was because he was very shy. She watched as her brother emptied his mug in record time, placing it on the table and sighing.

“You should go easy on the coffee, you know.” Kitten pointed out.

“You know I’m not a morning person.” George replied, looking at his sister tiredly.

“Good morning, everyone.” They all looked up to see Tak walking into the kitchen.

“Good morning, honey.” Dib greeted back as she approached to place a peck on his lips.

Tak walked up to the coffee maker on the counter, ruffling George’s hair and pinching Kitten’s cheek on the way.

“I think I’m going to the grocery store.” Tak announced, pouring coffee into a mug. “Do you guys want a ride to skool?”

“No, I’d rather take the bus.” Kitten said.

“And what about you, Georgie?” Tak turned to his son, who pouted at the nickname.

“I think I’m taking the bus as well.” He replied, adjusting the gray loose beanie that hid his small antennae.

“And you’re just going to leave me alone, like that?” Tak directed herself to her children, faking sadness.

“Mom…” Kitten complained.

“I’m just messing with you guys.” Tak winked before emptying her mug and placing it in the sink. “Do you guys need anything?”

Dib and the kids pondered for a moment before answering in unison.

“No.” Dib said.

“Uh-uh.” George said.

“Tampons.” Kitten said and everybody looked up at her in silence. “I’m kidding, okay?”

Her parents sighed and Tak turned on her holo disguise, which looked different by now. Her human disguise now looked older like her, something in her mid-forties, and her hair was restyled into a shoulder-length, asymmetric bob cut.

“Alright, I’m taking off.” Tak announced as she approached her husband to give him another peck on the lips before turning to her children. “Behave yourselves.”

“Yes, mom.” Kitten said monotonously as her brother nodded. She knew her mother was talking most specifically to her than to George.

“Bye.” Tak said as she exited the kitchen and her family said goodbye to her as well.

“So…” Dib started, looking at the tablet in front of him. “The bus will be here any minute now, right?”

“What?!” Kitten exclaimed, glancing at the wall clock. “Why didn’t you say that sooner?!”

“I was just waiting to see if any of you would notice that.” Dib replied monotonously.

Kitten growled, grabbing her brother and dragging him out of the kitchen. “C’mon, G. Bye, dad!”

“Bye.” Dib called after them as they grabbed their bags and exited the house.

* * *

They reached the end of skool day, and some girls were playing a heated round of soccer at the courtyard. The rival team couldn’t hold back the twelve-year-old who practically flew around the field. She quickly approached the rival goal, successfully making a score as the goalkeeper threw herself on the ground, not able to catch the ball. She didn’t celebrate it, however. She simply smiled as her teammates celebrated for her as she panted and sweated.

“Nice job, Ada!” One of her teammates congratulated her, resting her arm on her shoulders.

“Thanks…” Ada panted in reply. “Do you mind if we call it a day?”

“Aw, already tired?” The girl said playfully as the others approached them. “’Didn’t see that coming from you.”

“Is not that!” Ada smiled. “Well… maybe a little. Is just that I have something planned for tonight.”

“Oh, yeah. Family night, huh?” The girl pointed out and Ada nodded. “Well, I guess we’ll call it a day too. I got tired only from watching you.”

“Heh heh…” Ada laughed awkwardly before picking her bag up from the ground. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay?”

“You bet that.” The girl replied and they all gathered around to say goodbye to Ada, who waved at them, saying goodbye as well.

Ada arrived home a few minutes later. Sighing, she removed her hat and undid her low, messy bun as she closed the front door behind her. She immediately saw her parents watching TV with GIR on the couch.

“Tiring day?” Zim pointed out.

“Yeah…” Ada smiled tiredly as she dragged her feet towards the hall. “I’ll just go take a shower.”

“Ugh, sometimes I wish you were also intolerant to water.” Zim complained, checking the time on his wristwatch.

“I won’t be long, okay?” Ada said from the doorframe. “And we still have half an hour.”

The adults fell in silence as the preteen directed herself to the bathroom, and Gaz couldn’t help but notice the look on her husband’s face.

“Something wrong?” She asked.

Zim shook his head. “Do you feel like time is passing way too fast since she was born? It seems like it was just last week that I was holding her up and kissing her face while she laughed…” Zim played out a sad smile at the memory. “But now she doesn’t let me get that close to her, anymore.”

Gaz looked up at him, selecting her words before speaking. “I know… I’ve always heard parents saying something like ‘they grow so fast’, and now I know the meaning of that. But just know that it doesn’t mean that she loves us any less.”

Zim looked at Gaz with an unreadable expression on his face.

“C’mon, Zim.” Gaz said, approaching her husband’s face. “We can’t control it, but we do can make the most of time before it’s too late.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Zim said.

“I am.” Gaz smiled before kissing Zim’s lips, who took it in as he hugged her.

They kept kissing as Zim ran his hands through Gaz’s body, breaking the kiss to smile down at her.

“It’s been a while, right?” He said suggestively as he stroked her hair.

“Not right now.” Gaz smiled back, making Zim pout at her. “Don’t give me that look.” Gaz complained as she kissed his neck. “Tonight, okay?”

“Is that a promise?” Zim smiled.

“You know I don’t turn back on them.” Gaz whispered as she rested her body against Zim’s and he hugged her with one arm, going back to watch TV before they had to leave for the family night.

* * *

A car parked in front of the Membranes’ residence and Kitten walked out of it. Her date called her attention before she could close the door.

“What? No kiss of goodbye?” The ginger boy said to Kitten with a smile on his face.

Kitten smiled back and kneeled on the passenger’s seat to place a kiss to the boy’s lips. He would have pushed her more deeply into it, but she drew back before he could do so.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Kitten said as she closed the car’s door, heading back home. The boy pouted at her behavior, but it soon curled up into a smug smile. He already knew Kitten’s reputation, and she was too smart and confident to be held by anyone.

The car drove off as Kitten unlocked the front door, meeting her family at the living room. Her mother and twin brother were sitting on the couch while her father seemed to be trying to call someone, phone in hand and an impatient expression on his face. He looked up at her sternly, keeping his phone in his pocket when he saw her coming through the door, and that, Kitten knew, could only mean she was in trouble.

“Where were you?” Dib questioned roughly.

“Uhm…” Kitten mumbled embarrassed. Her father could be intimidating when he wanted to. “What time is it?”

“Almost five, you said four!” Dib crossed his arms in disapproval.

“Sh- !” Kitten held her tongue before saying something she sure would be scolded for. “Sorry, I lost track of time…”

“Yeah, you did.” Dib quirked a brow. “Now get in the car or we’ll be late.”

Kitten did as she was told and followed her father into the garage with her mother and brother following close behind. The kids already knew how those family meetings were important, they’ve been through that before. Their parents already told them how their grandfather, Professor Membrane, was absent in Dib and Gaz’s lives.

The car ride went silent as George played in his game device and Kitten listened to music, but the adults weren’t making any sound either, and Dib noticed a strange look on his wife’s face. He took a few glances at her from the corner of his eyes before speaking.

“Are you okay, Tak?” He whispered. He already knew by now that his kids could listen from their small ears as much as from their small pair of antennae. Since they were wearing earbuds and hats, that meant they could still hear about 25% of what was around them, hence the whispering.

“Nothing, is just…” Tak trailed off.

“C’mon…” Dib turned to her as he stopped on a red light. “You can tell me.”

Tak sighed. “I just have this weird feeling in my spooch…” Dib looked at her confused. “It could just be my imagination, though.” Tak smiled at him. “Don’t worry.”

“Well, don’t think too much about it, then.” Dib looked at her tenderly before continuing on the way.

Tak lowered her head. She didn’t want to think about it, but why would that feeling not leave her?


	3. Chapter 3

Zim, Gaz and Ada were already waiting at the carnival’s entrance when they arrived. Kitten was the first one to exit the car, running up to her cousin as the others followed behind.

“Hey, girl!” Kitten waved at Ada, who waved back and couldn’t react before Kitten hugged her waist, hoisting her up.

“Ah! Put me down!” Ada complained as she waved her arms in struggle and Kitten complied.

Kitten knew that Ada didn’t like being picked up, so she did that to tease her. Ada pouted at Kitten, who lolled her tongue at her and winked, smiling playfully. They greeted each other when the others joined in, including MiMi who walked up to GIR, who was on a leash and being guided by Ada. The cat-cloaked sir unit lowered her head and rose her flank, as cats do when they’re about to attack, and slipped away from GIR when he tried to hug her, quickly nestling herself on Kitten’s shoulders. They walked together into the carnival, and Kitten noticed when Ada stretched uncomfortably.

“Tired?” Kitten asked her cousin.

“Yeah… And a bit sore.” Ada explained. “I was playing with my friends after skool, today.”

“That actually doesn’t surprise me.” George cut in. “By the way you play, that’s only natural.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Ada complained.

“Nothing.” George said awkwardly, regretting his choice of words. “I was just saying that you play well.”

Ada looked at him unblinking. “You think so?”

“Of course you do!” Kitten said. “And I can already see you playing on the female world cup.”

“Aw, you’re exaggerating. I’m not that good.” Ada blushed embarrassed.

“You’re being too modest, Ada.” George said. “There’re a lot of grownups out there who can’t play half as well as you.”

Ada blushed harder as they fell in silence. Looking down, she didn’t notice when GIR stopped on his tracks, that is, only when she felt a tug on his leash. Ada looked down at GIR, who was staring intensely at a mirror maze.

“What is it, GIR?” Ada asked, and all the others stopped when they noticed that she was left behind.

GIR pointed at the maze’s entrance, looking up at her with sad, puppy eyes.

“You wanna go in there?” Ada asked, but GIR didn’t reply. He simply ran inside the maze, dragging Ada with him.

The others followed them to encounter GIR making weird poses in front of one of the mirrors with Ada standing by his side, but it wasn’t long before he ran off, making Ada lose grip on his leash. The defect SIR unit ran around, bumping hard on some of the mirrors every so often as he made loud, weird noises.

“We should probably go get him and try something else.” Kitten pointed out, staring into one of the mirrors. “This is too easy.”

“I have to agree with you.” Ada said, staring into a mirror as well. “Even GIR can find his way out.”

“Oh, wanna place a bet?” Kitten smiled, and Ada returned the gesture.

“Five dollars he can get out in half an hour.” Ada said.

“It’s on.” Kitten said.

Ada stomped on GIR’s leash, making him stop running around and falling flat on his back when the leash reached its end and there was no place left to run. She kneeled in front of him, grabbing him by the head.

“Listen up, GIR.” Ada spoke slowly and carefully to make sure that he would understand. “You wanna play in the maze, right?” GIR nodded vigorously. “Well, I’ll let you play in the maze with one condition: if you can find the exit as fast as you can, I’ll buy you chocolate bubblegum.”

GIR’s eyes widened at that and he made a weird monkey sound before struggling free from Ada’s grasp and running into the maze as he screamed. The next moment, everybody was gathered at the maze’s exit, waiting for GIR.

“I can’t believe you drove us into this.” George complained.

“Relax, we still have plenty of time.” Kitten replied.

“You’re still making us wait because of five bucks!” George exclaimed.

“Worth it.” Kitten shrugged.

They heard Dib and Gaz snorting behind them and looked up at their parents questioningly.

“Boy, it sure does bring back memories.” Dib pointed out to Gaz.

“You two used to fight that much when you were younger?” Kitten asked.

“I guess you could say that.” Dib shrugged.

“Never in my life did I hear such an understatement.” Gaz rolled her eyes. “We were actually worse than that.”

“How so?” Ada asked, rising a brow.

“Well, I never actually teased your mom, but she would threaten me and beat me up when I accidentally did something she didn’t like.” Dib turned to Ada. “She used to scare me when we were younger.”

“Really?” Ada asked surprised.

“Yeah, and she still does, a little bit.” Gaz nudged Dib’s ribcage playfully as he said that.

They all giggled at that, all except for Ada, who had something itching on the tip of her tongue.

“Why you never tell much stories about your past?” Ada asked, making everybody go silent and stare at her.

The adults stared at each other before someone broke the silence.

“We just didn’t think you would be interested, sweetie.” Gaz replied.

“But I am!” Ada whined. “I know a lot of interesting stories from when you were younger, like the Ultra Peepi one. But you never actually told us the most important ones.”

Zim and Gaz eyed each other awkwardly.

“Fair enough.” Zim started. “What do you wanna know?”

Ada thought for a bit before speaking up.

“Did you ever date anyone else before getting married?” She asked, surprising even her cousins with the question.

Gaz was the first one to speak. “Well… I did date a couple of guys before I started dating your father. He was actually the last boyfriend I had until we got married.”

The teenagers stared at Dib after Gaz finished speaking, making him uncomfortable.

“I only dated one girl before I found Tak again.” He blushed.

“Only one?” Kitten asked.

“Yeah.” Dib sighed. “Because, after your mom was thrown into space in that escape module, I tried moving on and forget her. But I ended up breaking up with the girl a while before I found her again. I just couldn’t get her off my mind.” Dib smiled up at Tak as he finished saying that, making the teenage girls go “Awww!”

“And what about you, dad?” Ada asked Zim.

“Did he?” Kitten spoke. “I thought that Irkens didn’t do that.”

“Well, actually…” Zim started.

“What? No way!” Kitten exclaimed as the teenagers looked at him surprised.

“I… may have thought I was dating Tak when she landed here, the first time.” The teenagers widened their eyes at that, screaming internally. “Is just that, when she showed up in our skool, she read a poem to me and threw meat on my face, so I ended up misinterpreting the signals.”

“Is that how Irkens do it?” Ada asked confused.

“Your father was just too slow to understand that I wanted to destroy him.” Tak cut in. “He didn’t leave me alone even after I sent that doberman after him.”

“That was a low move!” Zim complained at Tak.

“I know.” Tak smirked.

“So how did you find it out?” Kitten asked.

“That was after she showed me her Irken form.” Zim replied.

The teenagers went silent. “Weird” would be an understatement for that story. They looked up when they noticed GIR running out of the mirror maze, tripping on his leash as he came up to Ada, who turned to her father as she took GIR’s leash.

“How long has it been?” She asked.

Zim checked the time on his wristwatch. “Twenty three minutes.”

“Yes!” Ada exclaimed, rising her arms in the air in victory, then extended her hand to Kitten. “Pay up.”

Kitten growled as she buried her hand in her pocket. “Here.” She spat, slapping a five-dollar bill on her cousin’s hand. “Enjoy your five dollars.”

Ada shook her head. “I actually promised GIR I would buy him chocolate bubblegum.”

Kitten sighed. “Ugh, I can’t believe you placed that bet for two dollars!”

“I can’t believe you made us wait for two dollars!” George complained.

“Shut up.” Kitten demanded and they carried on with the rest of the carnival.

They went on almost every attraction in the carnival, having fun on their family time. When there weren’t many more attractions left, they decided to go back home, but Ada saw a dragon plush from a prize tent and just kept staring at it with big, shiny eyes.

“You want that one?” Kitten asked as she noticed the look on her cousin’s face.

“Uhm…” Ada mumbled as everybody stopped on their tracks, looking at the girls.

“Wanna try your luck?” The big, fat man behind the tent directed himself to the girls. “That’s the biggest prize. If you shoot down one of the ducks in the first row, you can take it.” He said as he pointed at the lines of flat wood ducks behind him, which were organized in three rows, one shorter than the other.

Ada looked at the plush sadly. She really did want it, but she also didn’t want to try her luck and waste their money on that game.

Ada sighed. “I don’t think I can. Let’s just go home.” Ada started walking away, but Kitten grabbed the back of her collar, forcing her to stop.

“You give up too easily.” Kitten looked at Ada before passing a bill to the man, who handed her a toy shotgun.

Kitten shot as the lines of ducks moved from one side to another, aiming for the first row: the most difficult one. Everybody gathered around her as she missed all of the targets, then the game ended.

“Aw, come on!” Kitten protested, before producing another bill from her pocket.

“Are you sure you wanna keep wasting your money on this?” George said to his sister. “You know you never gonna make it.”

“Shut up!” Kitten exclaimed as she handed the money to the man and the game started again.

Same as before, she couldn’t get any of the targets before the game ended. She growled, producing another bill.

“Kitten! You don’t have to keep doing this!” Ada cut in. “I don’t even want the plush that bad!”

“Yeah…” Kitten let out. “But now it has become a matter of pride.”

“Pffft, what pride?” George mocked.

“One more word and I’ll use the shotgun on _you!_ ” Kitten exclaimed as she handed the bill to the man, losing another game.

Ada looked worried at her cousin. Kitten was growling and she thought she would see foam coming out of her mouth at any second. She was losing her patience.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Tak cut in, and they all looked up at her as she directed herself to Kitten. “If you can’t shoot, then I’ll teach you.”

“Mom?” Kitten said surprised.

Tak handed the man another bill as she grabbed Kitten’s arms, positioning the shotgun.

“Relax.” Tak whispered on her ear. “Take a deep breath and empty your mind. Now take a shot.”

Kitten took the shot and successfully knocked over a duck from the first row right before the game ended. She widened her eyes surprised as her family cheered behind her and the man handed her the dragon plush.

“There you go, cous’!” Kitten smiled as she handed Ada the plush.

“Thank you.” Ada smiled wide as her eyes sparkled, and it seemed like she would cry out of happiness at any moment.

Kitten smiled at her and they headed back to the cars, and it was getting hard for Ada to guide GIR with one hand, since she was carrying her plush with the other. When they made it to the cars, GIR got distracted by something before they could get in.

“I hear the cooing.” GIR said and Ada looked down at him questioningly, but she couldn’t hold him before he ran off, making Ada lose grip on his leash.

“GIR! Get back here!” Ada exclaimed as she handed her father the dragon plush and ran after GIR.

“Ada, don’t run off too far!” Gaz warned.

“I won’t!” Ada called, briefly looking behind at her mother before resuming her run after GIR.

Ada found GIR in a meadow not too far. He dove in the high grass after something, making a few pigeons fly away from him. Ada picked GIR up in her hands when she reached him, tapping his head to make him release the pigeon he had in his mouth and it flew away from him. Ada was about to walk back to her parents when a bright, purple light shone from above, startling her and making her drop GIR, who fell back first on the grass, unmoving. She looked up at the light, but couldn’t quite decipher where it came from before she disappeared in thin air and the purple light vanished after her. GIR stood from his place on the ground, giving a dead-pan look at a weird-looking pod that floated above where Ada was standing seconds ago before it flew away from him in light speed. When GIR finally realized what was going on, he started screaming, running back to his master not too far from there. Everybody looked up at GIR when he came running to them, sobbing incoherent words.

“GIR! What’s happening?” Zim kneeled in front of GIR. “Where’s Ada?”

“The flying pod!” GIR screamed as everybody gathered around him. “The flying pod! She vanished! It took her!”

“GIR!” Zim picked GIR up in his hands. “Calm down and tell me what happened to her!”

GIR sobbed a little more as he tried calming himself down before speaking more coherently this time. “The flying pod that came from space! It transported her away! She’s gone!”

Zim’s eyes widened as he heard that. He dropped GIR to the ground in his state of shock, trying to digest what he just heard. Everybody went silent as GIR kept crying on the ground. That couldn’t be happening.

* * *

The next moment she knew, the purple light vanished as she appeared in another room in an unknown place. Taking in her surroundings as her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she saw two figures standing behind a pink-colored glass. She looked around, noticing that she was surrounded by the glass. She was trapped.

“What’s happening?” The half Irken asked the two figures as panic started to build up inside of her. “Where am I?”

Ada gasped as one of the figures approached and she could now see its face. An Irken.

“Where am I?” Ada asked again as panic started rising on her tone.

The Irken before her smirked. “You’re in an Irken ship.” He explained. “The Tallests sent us to go get you.”

“What?” Ada said, confused by his words. “Who are those ‘Tallests’? What do you want from me?”

“Patience.” The Irken closed his eyes briefly. “It’s not every day a hybrid is born between us. The Tallests want to see it for themselves.”

Ada widened her eyes, fighting back her tears.

“Hey.” The other Irken in the room called his partner, who looked up at him. “Are you sure we got the right one?”

His partner quirked a brow at him before turning back to Ada. “You’re the first hybrid, right?” Ada didn’t respond, she was too busy trying to control her tears to say anything. She got startled when the Irken before her slammed the glass of her cage with his fist, demanding silently for her to answer him.

“I… Don’t know what you mean…” Ada looked down.

The Irken sighed. “You’re the first offspring of the she-Irken, Tak and a human male, right?”

“No…” Ada said slowly.

“Aaaaagh!” The Irken before her exclaimed, throwing his head back. “I knew it!”

“Well, don’t blame it on me.” The other Irken said as his partner glared up at Ada.

“Well, it doesn’t matter.” He started. “The Tallests were very clear when they said they wanted _all_ the hybrids _and_ the traitors. They’ll be coming for her, we just need to sit and wait.”

Ada suddenly slammed her hands against the glass, startling the Irkens in front of her.

“Don’t you dare hurt them.” She hissed morbidly. “What do you even want with us?”

The Irken smirked. “You know, it’s not every day a hybrid is born between us. That is a serious offense to the empire. We’ll just use you and the other atrocities as test subjects… And your, uhm… ‘Parents’ will be executed.”

The Irken kept smiling as Ada widened her eyes in fear. The words died in her mouth and she didn’t say anything else as the Irkens exited the room.


	4. Chapter 4

The car fell in mortal silence as Zim drove Gaz back home. Both had their eyes swollen from crying so much. Gaz took a glance at the plush dragon on the back seat through the rearview mirror, squeezing her eyes shut as if she was in pain.

“How did this even happen?” The words caught in Gaz’s throat as she spoke. “Who would take her from us?”

Zim took a quick peek at her from the corner of his eye before answering. “I have a theory.” Gaz looked up at him wide-eyed. Zim sighed. “Whoever took her… was most probably Irken.”

Gaz was in shock to hear that. “And what would they want with Ada?”

Zim paused before speaking. “The simple act of having sex is forbidden in my planet. Generating an offspring through intercourse, especially with a different species, is considered one of the highest crimes.”

“Then why?” Gaz hissed, anger building up inside of her. Zim looked at her questioningly, stopping the car on a stop sign. “Why did you have a kid with me knowing that?!” She exclaimed.

Zim pulled the hand break and sighed, trying to control his anger. “You wanna know why, Gaz? Because I love you enough to have a family with you. I love you enough to go against the rules of my planet and put our lives in risk only to have you both by my side.” Zim’s expression softened when he saw the shocking look on Gaz’s face. He sighed. “I didn’t know they knew… I thought we were safe here on Earth. I don’t even know how they found that out… I could never think that they would go after our little girl… After all, I was supposed to be an exiled defect. I don’t have any worth for them.” Zim looked down. Gaz opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to say something in return, but decided to just remain silent. “I’m going after them.” Zim said as he pushed the hand break, restarting the engine. “I need to bring her back.”

“Tonight?” Gaz asked worried.

“Yeah, tonight. I can’t wait any longer.” Zim replied impatiently. “Who knows what she could be going through, already.” Zim stiffened, gripping the wheel at the thought.

“And how can you know where they took her?” Gaz asked quietly.

“I’ll see if I can track down any sorts of Irken technology near Earth’s atmosphere.” Zim explained. “GIR said a transport pod took her, so they must be close by.”

Gaz looked down, pondering about something. “I’m going with you.” She said determined.

Zim took a quick, incredulous look at his wife before answering. “No, you’re not.”

Gaz shook her head, looking up at Zim. “Zim, I-“

“You’re not going with me!” Zim exclaimed as he kept his eyes on the road. He took a deep breath, trying to control his anger. “I can’t forgive myself if something happens to you, too.”

Gaz shook her head. “I know you worry about me, but I can defend myself. Plus, you’re gonna need as much help as you can gather… This isn’t _your_ fight, is ours.”

Zim went silent, selecting his words before speaking. “You’re right.”

“I am.” Gaz replied monotonously.

They fell in complete silence for the rest of the ride, and kept it like that all the way home and down Zim’s lab, where he started tracking down any nearby Irken ship. Gaz stood behind him as Zim searched Earth’s proximities on his computer. They stared up at the computer screen when he got something.

“There’s an Irken ship not too far.” Zim pointed out.

“What are we gonna need?” Gaz asked, approaching Zim on his chair as both kept staring at the screen.

“Master.” The computer’s robotic voice called.

“What?” Zim sighed.

“You have a visit.” The computer announced.

“What? At this hour?” Zim rose a brow confused. “Show me the security cameras’ footage.”

The computer did as he was told and the couple was surprised to see who was at the door. They stopped what they were doing, and both went to answer the door, revealing Dib and Tak on the other side when they opened it.

“Zim, we need to talk.” Dib started.

“This isn’t a good time, Dib.” Zim said. “We have important things to do, right now.”

“I figured.” Dib said, almost sarcastically. “And we wanna help.”

Zim and Gaz were surprised to hear that.

Zim shook his head, opening his mouth to speak, but couldn’t get the words out of his mouth before Dib cut him off.

“Look, I know what you’re gonna say.” Dib said sternly. “But we’re not gonna let you two risk yourselves alone like that, and you’re gonna need our help whether you want it or not.”

Zim went silent. He could see that Dib had a point there.

“And what about Kitten and George?” Gaz asked.

“We left them with dad until we come back.” Dib replied.

Zim went silent, looking down. Everybody looked at him as if waiting for something.

“Zim.” Dib insisted.

“You’re right, Dib.” Zim sighed. “About everything you said, but I can’t let you two risk yourselves as well because of us. What if we don’t make it? I can’t put you in danger and make George and Kitten take the risk of losing their parents as well.”

“Oh my God! Do you even listen to yourself?!” Dib exclaimed. “Zim, this is seriously the worst time for you to be pessimistic.” Dib started as he held Zim’s shoulders. “You two are part of our family and so is Ada. We’re not gonna let you do this alone. Plus, I we owe you that, right?” Zim’s antennae perked up as Dib said that. A memory hit him. “We wouldn’t have Kitten and George in our lives if it wasn’t for you.” Dib smiled as he said that. “It was about time we returned the favor, right?”

Zim looked down. Now he couldn’t argue anymore.

“We’re messing with something very dangerous, here.” Zim said quietly. “Are you sure you wanna risk yourselves to help us?”

“Most definitely.” Dib said determined.

“Alright.” Zim sighed as Dib removed his hands from his shoulders. “But I should tell you about who we’re dealing with, before.”

Dib looked at Tak, who looked back at him, both holding a confused look on their faces. They entered the living room as Zim and Gaz moved out of the way for them to get in. Tak turned off her holo disguise when the door was closed, and Zim looked back at them with an unreadable expression as they waited for him to start talking.

“Well?” Dib asked impatiently.

Zim sighed. “Ada was abducted by Irkens.”

The couple before him widened their eyes in shock.

“What?!” They exclaimed in unison before Zim could say anything else.

“And how can you be so sure?” Tak asked worried.

“We found an Irken ship not too far from Earth.” Zim explained. “Ada has to be there.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Tak continued. “How did they find out?! We’re living on Earth as exiles for years now! They shouldn’t know about our kids!”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.” Zim said quietly.

“Wait, what?” Dib asked confused.

Tak sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but sex is forbidden in our planet.” Dib widened his eyes as he listened to his wife talk. “The simple act of having sex is something very serious, and whoever disobeys that rule is severely punished… Sexually generating an offspring is even worse and, not only we broke that rule, but also did so by having kids with an entire different species. If the Tallests know about it, then we’ll be all put to death. And our children…” Tak trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence. “That doesn’t even make sense… We should be safe here on Earth, they shouldn’t know about our kids.”

“They shouldn’t.” Zim said with an unreadable expression on his face. “But we should worry about that later. If they know about our kids, that means George and Kitten are in danger as well.” Dib and Tak looked up at Zim frightened. “Are you sure they’re safe in your father’s house?” Zim asked Dib, who looked down worried. “Call him and tell him to hide the two of them in his lab and turn on the security system.” Zim demanded.

Dib nodded and produced his phone out of his pocket, calling his father as the others gathered around to talk.

“Do you have a plan?” Tak asked.

Zim sighed. “Not actually. But we can’t get any close to that ship without being noticed.”

“I suppose there isn’t much we can do.” Tak looked down.

“No, I guess not.” Zim replied quietly.

“Hey…” Gaz let out, placing a comforting hand on her husband’s arm. “Don’t worry. Everything’s gonna be fine, I know it.”

Zim didn’t reply. He simply stared into Gaz’s face before looking down, squeezing his eyes shut as if he was in pain.

Never they imagined the burden that raising their children would bring to them…

* * *

Kitten sat on the bed with her legs crossed, flapping one of her folded legs impatiently. She couldn’t believe her parents left her behind like that, after all, Ada was her cousin and she wanted to help, but now she was stuck with her brother in their grandfather’s house, each one in a different room. Professor Membrane reformed his children’s bedrooms years ago after they moved out, turning them into guest rooms. A lot of things were gone and rearranged, and the walls were now painted in a sand color. Kitten stopped flapping her leg as a thought occurred to her. She was going to help whether they liked it or not.

George was sitting on his father’s old bed, sketching something in the sketchbook he brought with him when he heard the creaking noise of a door opening. His small antennae perked up and he glanced at the bedroom’s door. His eyes narrowed as he put his notebook aside, getting up from the bed and heading to the door, opening it to spot his sister tip-toeing out of their aunt’s old room. She cringed and stopped on her tracks when she heard the door to the other room opening.

“What are you doing?” George asked his sister.

“Uhm…” Kitten straightened herself, turning to her brother. “I was just-“

“Sneaking out.” George accused, leaning on the doorframe and crossing his arms.

Kitten sighed. “I can’t let them do this alone, G. Ada is important for me too, I should be there.”

“She’s important for me, too.” George rose a brow. “And that’s why I can’t let you go after them by yourself.”

Kitten widened her eyes as George headed back in the room.

“Just wait until I get my stuff, okay?” He announced.

“Now we’re talking.” Kitten said quietly to herself as she smiled.

They both tip-toed down the stairs not to call their grandfather’s attention. When they made it to the living room, they heard Professor Membrane talking to someone on the phone in the kitchen, they also scented the smell of food, and figured he was cooking dinner. Quickly but silently, they tip-toed all the way to the front door, slowly and quietly opening it and heading out the streets. Once they were sure their grandfather couldn’t see them, they started running, heading directly back to their house, arriving a few minutes later. Kitten unlocked the front door, revealing MiMi, who was standing in the middle of the living room in her cat disguise, guarding the house. She turned off her holo disguise when she saw the kids coming through the door.

“What do you propose we do, now?” George asked Kitten.

“We still have Mom’s ship in the garage, remember?” Kitten asked almost rhetorically.

“But how can we know where they went to?” George asked, following his sister to the garage.

“I think I can use the ship to get into uncle Zim’s computer and find that out.” Kitten explained as she turned to MiMi, who remained standing in the place. “MiMi, you’re coming with us.”

The little robot looked behind, marching after Kitten when she heard the command.

“And we’re just gonna leave the house unguarded like that?” George asked.

Kitten sighed. “The house can stay unguarded for a night, G. We need her.”

George simply pouted at his sister, not saying anything else. He followed Kitten into the garage, where she flicked on the lights to reveal a huge, white cloth behind their parents’ cars. They walked up to it and Kitten yanked off the cloth, revealing their mother’s old ship. They got in with MiMi as the ship closed and Kitten started pressing buttons on the panel, as if searching for something.

“There.” She said, looking at the panel. “There’s a ship not too far from Earth.”

“Okay, but aren’t we too unprepared?” George pointed out. “Aren’t we gonna need weapons and space suits?”

“I think I can provide those.” Kitten said as she searched for the right buttons on the panel.

When she got the right command, thick straps of cloth snaked out of the panel, wrapping themselves on the twins and forming Irken space suits. Kitten paused, looking at her brother before preparing to take off.

“Are you ready?” She asked him.

“I’m scared.” George replied quietly.

Kitten sighed. “I know, G. Me too… but we need to do this.”

George paused, taking a deep breath. “I don’t wanna kill anybody.”

Kitten looked at him expressionless. “Me neither. But we can’t give whoever kidnapped our cousin any mercy…” George looked up at Kitten worried, but her expression didn’t change. “Careful where you’re aiming, and shoot to kill.” Was all Kitten said before the garage roof began retracting.

They looked up at the ceiling as it disappeared before them, then Kitten started the ship, and George seemed to be holding a breath as she took into the skies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** How did Kitten learn to pilot Irken ships, I heard you ask? That shall be explained in future chapters. ;)


	5. Chapter 5

The Irken ship floated around Earth’s atmosphere when the Voot Runner approached sneakily.

“This is it…” Zim announced as the Voot Runner slowly got closer to the ship. Whatever was pumping his blood began racing, and his wife noticed his uneasiness as the Voot Runner got slower, almost coming to a halt. Gaz placed a reassuring hand on Zim’s shoulder, who looked down at her determined face before nodding and putting their improvised plan into action. Zim approached the Irken ship, firing at it, leaving a hole on the shell. A few Irkens were sucked out of the ship, and the adults watched as they died in outer space. Zim approached the Voot Runner to the hole in the shell, covering it with the ship before retracting the visor and the four of them jumped into the ship with their space suits. They passed through a door and ran into the corridors to try and find Ada’s containment chamber, but it wasn’t long before some Irkens appeared and started firing lasers against them. The adults hid against a pile of supplies in the ship and the lasers ceased. They heard footsteps slowly coming closer and panicked as they realized that the Irkens were coming for them. It seemed like long minutes passed before they heard a few more laser shots coming from behind, followed by “oofs” and loud thuds. They risked a peek behind to see the teenage twins holding laser guns and the Irkens fallen to their feet. Tak didn’t think twice before jumping on her feet and screaming at them.

“You two!” She directed herself to her children. “You were supposed to be with grandpa!”

“I’m sorry, mom. But we’re not letting you do this by yourselves!” Kitten retorted.

Tak was about to say something in return, but they soon heard footsteps and loud chattering coming after them.

“We don’t have time for this.” Dib said as he jumped from behind the supply boxes and jogged up to his kids, making them run away from there.

They ran through the ship’s corridors, dodging all the laser shots fired at them and were almost losing the Irkens when they came to a dead end. They all stopped abruptly when they came face to a door guarded by two other Irkens, who were surprised to see them at first, that is, before their lips curled into smirks.

“Well, well.” One of them spoke. “We were waiting for you.” He tried approaching, but couldn’t get any closer as they rose their guns at him. The Irken rose his hands in defense with a surprised look on his face, before it curled back up into a smirk. “Aw, come on. There’s no need for that! You want the hybrid, right?” He slowly pointed at the door behind him. “She’s right in there.”

Everyone froze on the spot, surprised for them making it so easy. They sure knew that was a trap, but didn’t have much time to think before they heard the fuss of the other Irkens that were following them before approaching. Zim put on a determined look on his face before pointing his gun at the Irken’s head, ordering him.

“Open the door.” He hissed.

“Alright.” The Irken shrugged before typing a password on the panel by the side of the door, opening it to reveal Ada encaged on the other side. She immediately jumped to her feet when she recognized the figures behind the guards.

“Thank you.” Zim said sarcastically as he passed by the guards, but they didn’t have time to retort before Zim shot one of them in the head, Gaz shot the other one. They hurried into the chamber and Tak closed the door behind her, and it locked itself automatically.

“Step back.” Gaz ordered her daughter, who obeyed silently, walking backwards until she reached the back of her cage. Gaz then hit the glass of the cage with her knee, making it shatter into a million pieces as Ada covered her eyes before looking up and running to her parents’ arms, but their moment didn’t last long before they heard dark laughter coming from behind. They all looked up at the door, which was still locked, but it wasn’t long until they heard a voice coming from behind it.

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” The voice spoke. “We knew you’d come for her, and now we just need to take you all to the Tallests. Have a nice ride, and good luck trying to escape from there!” He left, laughing at them.

Panic stamped the features of everyone in the room, save for Zim and Gaz. Ada looked up at them, trying to fight back her tears.

“Dad…” She called as tears began to sprout from her eyes.

“Don’t worry, baby girl. We’ll figure this out.” Zim tried tranquilizing her, but Ada shook her head.

“You shouldn’t have come for me.” She cried. “Now you’re all screwed because of me!”

“Hey, stop blaming it on yourself.” Zim said softly as he grabbed her face. “This is not your fault, and we’re gonna find a way out, I promise!”

“How?” Dib asked, turning to Zim, who looked up at him confused. “How are you gonna find a way out this time, Zim? I can’t see a way we can get out of here.”

“This is seriously the worst time for you to be pessimistic, Dib-beast!” Zim exclaimed. “That is not gonna help, right now!”

“And what do you propose we do now?!” Dib exclaimed back.

“This.” Zim said as he produced a round gadget from his belt, placing it on his daughter’s chest and pressing the button on the center to make thick straps of cloth snake themselves around her body, wrapping themselves into a space suit. “Close your helmets.” Zim ordered everybody in the room as he too closed Ada’s helmet before his own.

“What? I thought you didn’t have a plan!” Dib said surprised as he obeyed.

“Well, kind of.” Zim shrugged, smiling. Dib smiled back. “Kitten.” Zim called his niece, who looked up at him. “Can you call your mother’s ship to the outside of this room?” Kitten nodded and started typing commands on her space suit’s arm. “Here, take Ada with you.” Zim said as he pushed his daughter towards Kitten and George. “Brace yourselves.” Zim ordered as he slapped another gadget from his belt onto the chamber’s wall.

“What is that?” Dib asked, suspicious of what that was.

“Just a little goodbye ‘gift’ for them.” Zim grinned up at Dib before typing commands on the arm of his space suit.

Dib didn’t have time to smile back before an explosion came from behind, opening another hole on the ship’s shell and they were all sucked into outer space where the Voot Runner and Tak’s ship were already waiting for them. George held onto Ada while Kitten called her mother’s ship to go catch them, and it obeyed right after. The teenagers got in the ship before the adults got in the Voot Runner and they flew back to Earth as the Irken ship exploded behind them.

* * *

The green house’s ceiling retracted before both the ships parked on the second floor. They all exited the ships, heading to meet each other, one more time. Gaz was the first one to take Ada in her arms, who took it in without hesitate.

“Oh my God, you’re trembling.” Gaz pointed out. “Are you hungry? I bet they didn’t give anything for you to eat.”

“I’m okay, mom.” Ada smiled up at her. “It’s just the adrenaline rush.”

“Sorry about that…” Zim placed a hand behind his head, awkwardly.

“Is okay, dad.” Ada smiled up at him. “You just did what you had to do.”

Zim smiled back. “Are you hungry? If they gave you anything to eat, I bet it wasn’t much.”

“No, actually…” Ada looked down. “Not a little bit, specially after this whole story.”

“I know.” Zim let out as he joined them in the hug.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your moment…” Tak cut in, retracting her space suit before directing herself to the twins. “But we gotta have a talk with those two.”

Kitten and George looked up at each other, worried. They all retracted their space suits before descending to the first floor of the house.

The next moment, they were all gathered in the living room to talk. Kitten and George kept their heads down as their parents gave them a sermon.

“What have gotten into your minds to do that?” Tak asked her children rhetorically.

“Does grandpa even know about that?” Dib asked.

“N… no…” Kitten mumbled awkwardly.

Dib pinched his nose bridge, fetching his phone in his pocket and proceeding to make a call.

“What are you doing?!” Kitten asked worried.

“I’m calling him.” Dib replied matter-of-factly. “He needs to know where you are, after all.”

Kitten swallowed hard as her father rose his phone to his ear. If she thought her father was intimidating, her grandfather was ten times worse.

“Do you even have any idea of the danger you got yourselves into?” Tak directed herself to them.

Kitten and George eyed each other before Kitten spoke. “We just couldn’t let you do that by yourselves.”

“Well, regardless you’re grounded.” Tak announced.

Kitten sighed. “I was expecting that… Worth it, though.”

Tak didn’t think twice before taking her children in her arms, and they took it without any complaints.

“His on his way.” Dib announced. “I’m just still curious to know how you learned to pilot your mother’s ship.”

“Uhm…” They all looked at Zim, who was sitting with Ada and his wife on the couch. “I might have taught them…”

“What?!” Dib exclaimed surprised. “When was it?”

“Last year…” Zim replied awkwardly.

“Zim!” Dib complained.

“What? Fourteen is enough to learn that! I was learning to pilot ships way before that age!” Zim defied.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that they don’t even have drivers’ licenses yet!” Dib exclaimed.

“Oh, come on Dib! You’re being a hypocrite! That still doesn’t change the fact that you were piloting ships and other heavy machinery when you were twelve!” Zim shot back and everyone in the room looked up at Dib.

“Actually, ten…” Dib let out awkwardly. “But that’s besides the point!”

“Are they here?!” Everybody looked up at the door where Professor Membrane just came in through. He closed the door behind him as he directed himself to the twins, crossing his arms before them. “So… What do you have to say for yourselves?”

“Uhm…” Kitten mumbled.

“Sorry, grandpa.” George said.

“Yeah…” Kitten said.

“What did you have on your minds to sneak away like that?” Membrane shook his head. “You both got me worried sick!”

“Sorry…” Kitten mumbled.

“But I’m glad to know that you’re okay.” Membrane said softly as he placed his hands on the twins’ shoulders, and they smiled in return.

“Do you already have any idea of how they found us out?” Tak asked Zim.

“No…” Zim confessed. “I’m still trying to figure that out.”

“Perfect…” Dib complained. “What are we supposed to do, now? Those ‘Tallests’ guys are probably gonna keep coming after us! And are we gonna do? Live hiding?!”

“Be quiet.” Zim ordered Dib. His face enlightening with realization.

“What? I’m just saying that we should do somethin-!” Dib started, not able to finish his words.

“Dib, shut up.” Zim warned.

“What…?” Dib asked confused. “Zim, I-“

“Will you shut up, for once?!” Zim exclaimed, rising from his seat. “You’re gonna get us all turned in!”

Everybody looked up at Zim as he buried his eyes behind his hand.

“They’ve been spying on us through my base…” Zim explained. “This is Irken technology, after all.” Zim squeezed his eyes shut, clutching his head. “How did I miss that?!”

“Is okay, Zim.” Tak approached. “You couldn’t know that… After all, we shouldn’t have any worth for them.”

Zim held his mouth, pondering. Just then, someone called his attention.

“Wait…” Zim looked at Gaz on the couch. “What are we supposed to do, now?”

Zim opened his mouth to speak, but decided otherwise. He walked up to a tablet that was sitting on the TV rack and typed something onto it, showing it to his wife right after.

**“We need to leave.”** Could be read on the tablet.

“What?!” Gaz exclaimed, making Zim put his finger on his mouth, signalizing for her to keep quiet. He directed his attention back to the tablet, typing in something else.

**“They probably already tracked down our location. It’s not safe here.”**

Gaz walked up to him and took the tablet from his hands, typing in another message.

**“Where are we going?”**

Zim was about to take the tablet from her hands and reply to that, but the TV suddenly turned on by itself. They all turned to the TV, where a message written in Irken appeared. Zim and Tak read the message with fearful eyes, making everyone around them confused.

“What’s going on?” Gaz asked.

“They’re coming.” Zim said slowly.

“Wait, who’s coming?” Gaz asked again.

Zim slowly turned to her, fear never leaving his features as he replied. “The armada.”


	6. Chapter 6

It was late, it was dark and all she wanted to do was sleep, specially after all that “abduction drama” she just been through, and yet, here she was, flying in her father’s ship to whoever-knows-where when a worldwide tragedy was about to strike. She was scared, and deep down, she sure knew her parents felt the same. She clang onto her grandfather’s body who shared the ship with her and her parents, trying to get some sleep, but no such luck; after all, a lot of things happened in the spam of one night. Her father piloted the ship away from the city with Tak’s ship following close behind, and she wondered where the hell they were going and how long it would take to get there.

“Is she asleep?” She heard her father asking her grandfather.

“No…” Ada replied sleepily.

“Hang in there, sweetie. We’re almost there.” Zim said tiredly.

“Where are we going?” Ada couldn’t help but ask.

Her father took a moment to reply, this time. “We can’t stay in the city, anymore. We need to find a hidden spot to build a new base.”

Zim couldn’t help but notice the way she sniffled. It sounded more as if she was crying; taking a quick glimpse of her face, he could tell for sure that she was. Sure, things weren’t very pleasant, at the moment. First she gets abducted, then, when she finally thought she was safe, the “Tallests” threaten to start a world war, and now she was heading to a place in the middle of nowhere, leaving her home behind. Zim wanted to say something to make her feel better, but he still wasn’t very good with that.

“Ada…” She looked up at her father, surprised for him calling her by her actual name. “I’m sorry about this, okay? I-“

“Is okay, dad.” Ada interrupted. “It’s not your fault.”

What she saw next broke her heart: it was the first time in her life she saw something like that, but her father was _crying._

“I’m going to fix everything, okay?” He said. “I promise you everything will be fine, in the end.”

Ada took a moment to speak, still surprised by her father’s reaction. “Will we ever be back?”

Zim shook his head. “They’ll probably destroy everything once they get there. I’m just leaving the house there as a bait.” The silence that came afterwards was heavy and filled with all the things that Ada wanted to say to him. It couldn’t be true; but Zim spoke before she could say or do anything. “Don’t worry, okay? We can probably find another place after all this is over. Maybe some place closer to uncle Dib’s house, how about that?” He said with a painful smile.

Ada looked at her father painfully. She didn’t know anything about those “Tallests” but, judging by her father’s attitude, they sure weren’t easy to handle; she couldn’t know if that would ever be over, but one thing she knew: her father didn’t know that either. Fighting back her tears, she tried saying something to ease the situation.

“Okay.” Was all she could come up with.

The ship fell in silence until they arrived at a part of the forest that had taller trees and a hollow space where they could build a new base on. Tak’s ship and the Voot Runner descended to the ground before the families reunited and Zim took a cylindrical object with him, pulling out a screen from it before he started scribbling something onto it as the others gathered to talk.

“Mom…” Kitten called Tak’s attention, who looked down at her. “What did that message say?”

Tak sighed before answering. “’You all think you’re so smart, don’t you? But you won’t be anymore when we, the almighty Tallests, come for you and bring the armada with us. Just wait until we get there.’”

“Isn’t it too much to bring the whole armada with them?” Kitten couldn’t help but ask. “I mean, we’re not many, after all.”

“The thing is who they’re dealing with here.” Tak responded. “While I am very skilled in combat and whatnot, your uncle is considered the empire’s biggest threat.”

“Wait.” They looked at Ada, who called their attention. “What does that mean?”

Tak held back before speaking. She knew she shouldn’t be saying that to her, at least not now but, now that she started it, she might as well end it. “Your father is a defective Irken. He should’ve been deactivated years ago, if he hadn’t been considered one of the greatest invaders yet after killing the previous Tallests, Miyuki and Spork as well as a great amount of our kind. The current Tallests are also always having trouble with him; they know who they’re dealing with, so it’s some sort of precaution.”

Ada was astounded to hear that, but her train of thought was interrupted by her father running up to them and telling them to step back before the ground rumbled and a new base lifted itself from under the ground. They watched as a two-floored green house built itself before their eyes, closing its roof above the two ships. They hesitated for a bit before Zim and Tak took the lead, heading into the house. When they passed by the front door, they could see how cozy it was on the inside. It looked pretty much like a regular house, with a living room with a door on the back that led to a hallway.

“Mister Membrane.” Zim directed himself to his father-in-law. “You can take the room down the hall, I’ll show it to you. As for you…” He directed himself to the kids. “You can choose your rooms at the end of the hall.” The kids nodded while Zim led Professor Membrane to his room.

The kids walked down the hall in silence while the adults remained in the living room. Arriving at the end of the hall, they saw a hallway with some doors throughout. After checking all of the rooms, they decided to let the girls take the two rooms on the right end of the hall and George took the one on the left end. They wanted to talk all of that over, but they were all exhausted and in much need of sleep, so they just quickly undid their bags and hopped on their beds.

* * *

Zim gently pecked Ada’s cheek, careful not to wake her up as Gaz waited by the door. Zim directed himself to his wife after kissing their daughter goodnight and they went together to one of the rooms on the main hall, tiredly sitting on the bed as they took off their shoes.

“So…” Gaz started. “When do you think the ‘Tallests’ will get here?”

Zim paused; Gaz looked behind her to see Zim with his back turned to her and, as well as she knew him by now, he was in deep thought.

“I don’t know.” Zim confessed, turning to her. “Irk is about six months from here but, if they’re in the Massive, they could be anywhere. As far as I know, they could be much closer than we think.”

Gaz looked down. She didn’t know what else to say, so she just went silent.

“Gaz… Look at me.” Zim demanded, and Gaz did as she was told. “I promise we’re gonna get out of this.”

“You can’t promise that…” Gaz shook her head. “You don’t know-“

“Yes, I do.” Zim cut her off. “Because I already killed the previous Tallests, so this is not gonna be any different.”

Gaz looked down again. Despite holding a confident smile on his face, she knew very well what her husband actually felt like; I mean, hell, she didn’t need to have spent so much time with him to know that, after all, he was crying minutes ago.

“C’mon, Gaz.” Zim called, interrupting her train of thought. “I know I’m scared, yes, but we have to stay positive.”

“But what if something happens?” Gaz said. “I’m scared too, but what scares me the most is what could happen with the kids. They’re after them, after all! What if-“

“Hey…” Zim took Gaz in his arms as she was starting to cry. “You don’t have to worry, ‘cause I sure won’t let anything happen to them, okay?”

With that, Zim took Gaz in a passionate kiss, going more deeply into it as she adjusted herself on the bed to a more comfortable position for the action. They kneeled on the bed, kissing each other and holding each other as close as possible; it wasn’t long before Gaz started to fidget with the hem of Zim’s shirt.

“Hey, what are you thinking?” Zim said playfully.

“I promised, didn’t I?” Gaz said, biting her lip.

“You did.” Zim’s smile widened.

Taking off his shirt and tossing it aside, Zim kissed her again and they hugged as he laid her on the bed.

* * *

Gaz woke up the next morning with Zim spooning her, both completely naked. She knew by now how much of a light sleeper he was and she knew that, if she made the most subtle move, she would wake him up. She turned herself to face him, and kissed him “good morning” before sitting up on the bed to fetch her clothes from the floor. Zim watched her naked figure crawl into her jeans and tank top before putting on her shoes and going to prepare herself some breakfast before they had to deal with the kids; they were probably all nervous wrecks by now, so they needed to be there for them. Zim took a few minutes before starting to dress himself up as well, a knock on the door could be heard when he was putting on his shirt.

“Yes?” Zim called from his place on the bed.

“Dad?” Ada’s voice could be heard on the other side. “It’s me.”

Zim hesitated for a bit before responding. “Yes…” He cleaned his throat. “Come in, sweetie.”

Ada slowly passed by the door, closing it behind her as she held a dark expression on her face.

“Is everything alright?” Zim asked.

He knew that that was the stupidest thing he could ask at the moment, ‘cause he knew very well the answer to that question: no, everything wasn’t alright; but he just couldn’t come up with anything better to make his daughter talk to him.

“Dad…” Ada paused. “Have you ever killed someone?”

Zim was taken aback by her question. It took a moment for him to recompose himself and speak again. “Wh… why are you asking me that?”

“Don’t lie to me.” Ada demanded. “I know you did. Aunt Tak told me everything.”

Zim took a moment to recompose himself before finally taking action.

“Ada… Come here.” Zim motioned for her to sit by his side, and she reluctantly obeyed. He took another moment before start speaking. “I was going to tell you that, someday… I was just waiting until you were old enough. Aunt Tak probably just let her tongue slip, but I won’t blame her for that. You know, the thing is… I _was_ an invader, after all. And that was my job.”

“But what about that story that you killed the previous Tallests?” Ada asked, surprising Zim. “So… They were going to kill you?”

Zim paused again, looking down. “They were. But, when I was working as a scientist at Vort Research Station 9, I created an Infinite Energy Absorbing Blob, that ate both Tallests Miyuki and her successor, Spork as well as a great amount of our kind. Except that…” Zim placed his hand behind his head awkwardly. “I… Didn’t order it to do that… It was a complete accident.” Ada had to hold back her laughter at that moment. “Hey, don’t laugh at me!”

“Sorry.” Ada smiled up at her father.

Zim smiled back. “Well, after that, I was considered the greatest invader alive by the Control Brains and they called off my deactivation, giving me a place in the armada… But, if you think it that way, I wouldn’t be here if that didn’t happen.”

Ada smiled. Zim placed a hand on her back, caressing it.

“We should be heading to the kitchen, now.” Zim announced. “Before GIR eats all the food.”

With that, he rose from the bed, offering Ada his hand to help her stand up as well, and they went to the kitchen to go have breakfast together. Maybe things would be easier to handle if they shared more moments like those.


	7. Chapter 7

Everyone else were already gathered in the dining room, when they made it there. There were a few awkward “good mornings” to the newcomers, to which Ada simply replied with a nod. She sat on the table in the center of the room next to her father, extending her hand to fetch a plate before serving herself with the massive breakfast that GIR had prepared, but couldn’t reach it before GIR himself enacted from under the table, placing the most good-looking pancakes Ada has ever seen in front of her on the table as he soot on her lap.

“There you have it!” GIR exclaimed joyfully. “I’ve made ‘em special for you. ‘Thought you would need it, after all.” GIR explained as he looked up at Ada with a sad face, to which Ada replied with a plain sad look, herself.

“Thanks, GIR.” She faked a smile and GIR smiled back, actually happy for getting a smile from her, and slid off of her lap to the floor.

Ada took a short moment before finally starting to cut her pancakes and put the first piece in her mouth. She still wasn’t the smallest bit hungry, but thought it was best if she finally ate something, or else it would be worse for her in the end. As she chewed on the first piece of pancake, Ada noticed GIR staring intensely into her face be her side, seeing if he got a positive reaction from her, which Zim noticed as well.

“Let Ada rest, GIR.” Zim scolded the malfunctioning SIR unit tiredly.

“Is okay, dad.” Ada shot her father a reassuring smile before looking back down at GIR. “Thanks, GIR. These are by far the best pancakes you ever cooked.” She said with a tired smile, and GIR smiled back, widely, before walking off.

Zim noticed Ada sigh as the little robot went away.

“They’re not that good, right?” He directed himself to her. “You know you don’t have to do this only to make him happy. You can have something else, if you want.”

Ada shrugged. “I wasn’t lying.” She explained as she went back to her pancakes. “I just can’t enjoy them as much, right now.”

Zim opened his mouth to reply to that, but soon closed it as he couldn’t come up with anything decent.

The table fell in mortal silence, save for the sounds of the silverware on the porcelain plates. It was suffocating and nobody liked to stay like that, but it wasn’t like they had anything pleasant to talk about. Ada was the first one to finish her breakfast, and was just about to take her plate to the sink, but GIR took it from her hands, appearing from God-knows-where, before she could even stand up.

“I don’t think so.” He started a sermon. “Let _me_ do this, okay? You should betta’ rest.”

Ada eyed the SIR unit surprised. “Thanks, GIR.” She quirked a brow as GIR jumped off of the table to take her plate to wash. Ada stood up before turning to her father. “Hey, uhm…” She started awkwardly. “Can I go play outside? I brought my ball with me.”

Zim paused, not wanting to give his daughter the bad news. “Sorry, sweetie, but it’s too dangerous to go outside, right now.”

“Oh… Okay.” Ada looked down, disappointed.

“But don’t worry.” She looked back up at her father as he resumed speaking. “I figured you would like to play while we’re here. I can still build an improvised field in the lab underground. Just wait until I finish here, okay?” He smiled at her, motioning at his unfinished breakfast.

“Okay.” Ada said with a small smile before heading out the room.

They fell in silence once more before Kitten broke it.

“Hey, um…” She directed herself to her uncle. “Didn’t you say those ‘Tallests’ found us out through your old house’s Irken technology, uncle Zim?”

Everybody in the room stopped to look at her. That was a subject they did _not_ want to touch at that exact moment, and Kitten knew that. In fact, she didn’t want to talk about it herself, but she just had to ask.

“Uhm… Yes, exactly…” Zim replied awkwardly as Kitten’s parents scolded her with the looks on their faces, but she tried to ignore it and continue.

“So… Will they track down the location of this… Hideout as well?” The others softened their expressions at her question.

“Oh, don’t worry, Kitten.” Zim tranquilized her. “I built this base specially for that. This is still Irken technology, yes, but the Tallests can’t track down the location of this base.”

“… Are you sure?” Kitten asked as she avoided eye contact. She didn’t want to push it, but the situation wasn’t the best, at that very moment and, to be fair, she wasn’t the only one feeling terrified.

“Hey, you don’t have to worry.” Kitten looked up at her uncle as he said that to notice that he had a tender smile on his face. “I am sure.”

Kitten tried returning the smile he gave her, but was still too sensitive and in a rare moment of holding back her tears. She stood abruptly from the table, quickly heading over to the door and heading out as she gave the excuse of “not being hungry”, and George excused himself before going after his sister. The adults remained in the room in that same awkward silence (which only just became worse).

* * *

George followed his sister to the end of the hall, where he spotted her going into Ada’s room. He paused before heading to the door and knocking on it.

“Not right now.” He heard Ada’s voice enacting from the other side, and she didn’t seem to be crying as much as his sister.

“It’s me.” George called back.

It was a moment before Ada opened the door for him. George could only play out a sad expression on his face for the looks of her: she had her eyes swollen from crying, dry tears on her face and had to avert her gaze from embarrassment of her cousin looking much at it. She moved out of the way and joined Kitten who was sitting on the bed with her face turned to the wall, so that her brother wouldn’t see her crying face. Ada sat in front of her as George reluctantly got into the room, closing the door on his way in, and slowly sat beside his sister on the bed.

“Sis…” He started. “Come on… You don’t have to hide it.” With that, Kitten slowly turned her crying face to meet her brother’s gaze. “Ew, okay…” George smiled playfully. “You just get uglier when you cry.”

Kitten returned the expression and nudged her brother’s shoulder playfully as he recoiled and laughed a bit. Ada smiled at their rare fraternal moment, but it curled back down into a frown as their laughter died down and their minds filled with one million thoughts.

“Do you think we’re gonna get out of this?” Kitten asked her brother.

George shrugged embarrassed. “I mean, didn’t they get out of thousands similar, and even worse situations, before?”

“I know, but…” Kitten trailed off. “I’m scared… I have a bad feeling about all this.”

“I know… Me too.” George agreed. “But maybe… We shouldn’t see that as a premonition or anything like that, ‘cause we can only sense the bad things, but never the good things.”

Kitten paused. “I want to believe that everything’s gonna be fine, in the end.”

“Then do it.” Kitten looked up at her brother questioningly as he said that. “Believe it… Don’t we always attract the good things with good thoughts?”

Kitten smiled, quirking a brow. “Don’t come with that psychology talk, again.”

“But it’s true.” George shrugged.

They smiled at each other and fell in a more serene silence this time. George rubbed his sister’s back with something itching on the tip of his tongue.

“Do you think we should go back and listen to what they have to say about all this?” He let out.

Kitten shook her head. “I think I need some more time.”

George nodded in understanding and extended his arm to wrap it around his sister’s shoulders, taking her in a one-armed hug.

* * *

It was tough for them to digest everything going on, at the moment. The teenagers remained in Ada’s room until lunch time and only got out to eat, again, in a heavy mortal silence as everybody gathered in the dining room. After they ate, they all went to the living room to talk properly. The three teenagers sat on the couch as the adults remained standing. There was a long pause before Zim finally broke the silence.

“Alright… I know that the current situation isn’t the best right now, and that you’re all frightened by what’s happening, we are too. But… I believe we should try to control ourselves and not let our emotions drive us into doing something stupid. Just remember that the best thing to do right now is to stay together.”

“Why are you talking as if we’re going to die?” Ada asked scared.

Zim paused. “No, sweetie. I just mean that we should be careful not to let that happen. I’m not saying it’s gonna happen, ‘cause I promise you: if anyone lays a finger on any of you, we’re gonna break their arms.”

“Do you have any plans of what we should do?” Kitten asked suddenly. “Or are we just gonna live hiding?”

An awkward silence fell among them as the adults selected the right words.

“We can’t live hiding, that’s for sure…” Zim took the lead, once more. “But I would be lying if I said we plotted any plans… For now, the only thing we know is that we should stop the Tallests when they get here. But the best to do would certainly prevent them from coming to Earth.”

“When are they coming?” George asked.

“We still didn’t have time to check that.” Zim replied.

“I still don’t understand why the ‘Tallests’ kept track of our lives for so long.” Ada pointed out.

Zim sighed. “Well, the thing about the Tallests is that they like to control. We shouldn’t have any worth for them, and we probably don’t, hence they only threatened to come after us after fifteen whole years. But they plain hate us and want to make our lives a living hell, because that’s just how they get their fun.” Zim shrugged.

“Sounds like a crazy stalker thing to do.” Kitten pointed out.

“Exactly.” Zim agreed.

Everyone in the room went silent, letting the thoughts race through their minds, until that someone spoke up.

“Kids…” The teenagers looked up at Zim, who called their attention. “I… We…” He trailed off. “I’d like to tell you something…” The teenagers stared at him as he others had their eyes wide, probably wondering about what he was gonna say. “We… have been keeping a secret from you…”

“Zim-“ Gaz tried to interfere.

“Is okay…” Zim cut her off. “I believe Ada has enough age to know… I know it’s not the best time to say it and, again, it’s not like I’m saying we’re gonna die, or anything… but it’s something important, and the three of you have the right to know.” The teenagers were on the edge of their seats by the seriousness of his tone. Zim sighed before continuing. “There’s no better way to say it, so I’ll just spit it out, already… that you… The three of you… are infertile.”

It was a like a bomb just messed up their whole world. They knew that all along and kept that secret up until now, only to reveal it on the worst time possible.

“Wait, how do you know that?” Kitten asked suddenly. “Have you ever made any exams, or…?”

“I didn’t have to play any tests on any of you to know that, Kitten…” Zim eyed her awkwardly. “That’s just basic Biology. Because you’re all crossbreeds, and crossbreeds can never reproduce.”

The teenagers seemed to be thinking deeply about what he just said, but most specially Ada. It wasn’t long before she stood up abruptly and quickly headed back to her room before her father could stop her.

“Ada!” Zim tried going after her, but was stopped by Gaz’s arm stretching out and blocking his way.

“Zim!” She warned, looking up at him. “Give her time.”

Zim gave in. That was the least he could do after dropping that bomb on their daughter’s life, and he knew that. They turned their gaze to the twins, who didn’t seem as shook as their cousin, but sadness remained stamping their features. It was a short moment before they stood up as well and directed themselves to their rooms.

* * *

Ada was sitting on her bed, still letting the information sink in. Why did it sound so much worser than a world war? Could it be because her father let it out on the worst time possible? Maybe… She draft away from her train of thought when she heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.” Ada invited reluctantly, knowing exactly who it could be.

“Hey, sweetie.” Zim greeted from the door as he came in.

“Hey…” Ada greeted back monotonously.

Her father looked down awkwardly. She sure needed more time, but he should do something or else they would remain in that awkwardness until their time ran out, and that was the last thing he wanted at the moment.

Zim slowly walked up to her and sat by her side on the bed, as if trying not to scare her away. He looked right into her face, but she didn’t look back.

Zim sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Ada shook her head. “It’s not your fault.”

“No. I mean sorry that I told you that just now.” Ada finally looked up at her father, surprised. “I know that was the worst time to do so… and we held that secret from you for so long, but we were just waiting until you were old enough to understand… Maybe we should have told you sooner, or maybe waited a little longer, but the thing is that I don’t know how much time we have left. I’m sorry… I should be tranquilizing you, face to this situation, but I’m scared-“ Zim cut himself off when his daughter placed a comforting hand on his cheek as the first few tears started sprouting from his eyes.

“I’m scared too, dad…” Ada eyed him tenderly. “But I’d rather have you telling me how you truly feel than lying to me and making impossible promises.”

Zim looked surprised at that before his tears began running amok. He closed his eyes and cried silently as he grabbed his daughter’s hand and kissed her palm. Ada was starting to sob when her father took in the hug she offered him. They remained like that, crying in each other’s arms for a while before Ada calmed down a little and spoke up.

“I know it’s not your fault…” She started. “But I think it’s unfair… That should be _my_ choice to make.”

“I know, baby girl…” Zim stared deeply into her eyes as he broke the hug. “But just have in mind that, if you really want to start a family, there’re other ways out.”

“You’re right…” Ada smiled as she wiped a few tears from her eyes and her father helped her with that. “That’s something I can’t control… I wish it was, but a child doesn’t necessarily need to be my blood heritage.”

“I know you’re upset, but that’s something you shouldn’t be worrying about, right now.” Zim said as he stroked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re too young. Also, whoever wants to marry you, will have to pass by me, first.”

Ada let out a giggle at that.

“Why are you laughing? I’m serious!” Zim said playfully, holding a smile on his face.

They smiled tenderly at each other before Zim broke the silence.

“Do you wanna have something to eat? It’s time for dinner, already.”

Ada shook her head. “I’m not really hungry.”

“Ada, you haven’t been feeding well, lately.” Zim pointed out. “I know this is a tough situation, but you need to stay strong.”

Ada shook her head, all the same. “I have a feeling that, if I eat anything, I’ll puke.”

“Understandable.” Zim rose a brow. “Just try to feed a little better in the next few days, okay?”

“Okay.” Ada smiled.

Her father smiled back and pecked her forehead before pushing her down to bed and standing up.

“Well, if you’re not gonna have dinner, you should better sleep. It’s getting late, anyway.” He said as he pulled the covers closer to her.

“I’m not a kid, anymore.” Ada complained with a smile on her face.

“Yeah, right.” Zim furrowed his brow. “Go to sleep or I’ll sell your toys.” He warned playfully as he headed to the door and rose a hand to the light switch. “Good night, princess.”

“Good night.” Ada replied sleepily. “I love you.”

Zim looked a bit surprised for a short moment before he smiled warmly. “I love you too, baby girl.”

Ada watched her father turn off the lights and head out the door for a moment before closing her eyes to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Zim joined the others in the living room after leaving his daughter’s bedroom, and they all seemed to be waiting for him.

“How’d it go?” Gaz asked her husband.

“She’ll be fine.” He gave her a reassuring smile.

Gaz sighed relieved.

“Why did you have to let that out anyways, Zim?” Dib intervened.

“Do you really think it was fair to hide it from them for so long, Dib?” Zim asked rhetorically.

“Yeah, but maybe you could’ve waited a little longer, don’t you think?” Dib retorted.

Zim shrugged uncomfortably. “We may not have that much time…” He barely whispered in a shadowy voice.

The room went silent until someone spoke up.

“So…” Membrane cleared his throat. “I believe it’s time for us to move along, right?”

“Right…” Zim let out slowly.

“What’s the next step?” Dib asked.

“We should try and track down the Massive’s location. It may not be much close to Earth, that way we can prevent them from coming.” Zim explained.

“And how do you propose we do that?” Dib asked.

“We should better contact the Vortians right?” Tak cut in.

“Exactly.” Zim agreed. “I can still get in contact with them and ask for a weapon of some sort…”

“Okay…” Dib spoke up as Zim trailed off. “I think it’s best if we discuss all of that down in the lab.”

Zim nodded. “Right this way.”

Zim led them into a hall where he summoned an elevator and it took them to the underground area of their hideout, which consisted of an Irken lab very similar to the one of his old base, but still much simpler. They arrived at the computer room and headed out the elevator, and Zim jogged up to the computer and sat in front of it.

“I’ll see if I can track down the Tallests’ location…” He explained, starting to type in commands on the keyboard.

“I hope you were right when you said they may not be much close…” Tak directed herself to Zim. “We’ll need a lot of-“

Tak cut herself off as she stared at the computer screen.

“Oh no…” Zim let out as he too stared at the screen. “It’s closer than we thought.”

* * *

They all gathered to talk at the dining room, later that night. They needed a plan and they needed it fast, but nobody could come up with anything and, seeing how the Tallests were ten steps ahead of them, they could only sit in silence. But that was the worst time to just sit in a corner and lament themselves. They needed to act.

“What are we supposed to do, now?” Dib finally broke the silence.

“The only thing left to do is wait for them.” Zim replied, slightly raising his head from his arms, where it rested.

Dib sighed. “Aren’t we too unprepared to face this?”

“There’s no other way out.” Zim replied. “It’s a war they want, and it’s a war they’ll get… The only thing left to do is fight.”

Gaz’s thoughts began to race at her husband’s words. That shouldn’t be happening. Not now, not with them. Their kids were still too young to understand. It wasn’t fair that they had to get themselves in the middle of a world-wide war with no place to run. She couldn’t care less for what happened to herself, as long as Ada and her cousins were… She averted her gaze from the others on the table, just noticing she started crying, but the others seemed to notice it as well.

“Gaz…?” Zim called her, but she didn’t look back. Zim sighed. “It’s the kids, right?” He said, as if reading her mind. “I wanted to say that they’ll be fine, but I can’t make impossible promises… But I definitely will do whatever’s in my reach to protect them. And I’m sure as well that everybody here will do the same.”

Gaz shook her head, finally looking up at him with her tear-filled eyes. “This shouldn’t be happening… Even if they get out of this safe and sound, they shouldn’t have to face this kind of situation. It’s… It’s not fair...”

“Hey…” Zim stroke her hair as she trailed off. “I know it’s not fair, but I think you’re underestimating them. They’re stronger than we think, Gaz… I know it’s the worst kind of situation a kid, or even anyone could face, but I know they can handle it.”

Gaz dried her tears as she looked at Zim’s reassuring smile before going silent. Zim’s smile fell as he turned to face the others.

“Well, I… kind of have something in mind.” He announced, and all the others rose their attention to him.

“You have a plan?” Dib asked.

Zim shrugged. “Not exactly the best plan, but still better than just sit and wait.” Everyone went silent, waiting for him to continue. Zim sighed. “I really don’t want to do this… but the Tallests are already ten steps ahead of us, so we should try to stay even…”

“Spit it out already, Zim!” Dib exclaimed impatiently.

Zim sighed heavily. “Maybe… if we go after them when they land here… would be the best solution. ‘Cause if we just sit and wait for them to find us, things will get ugly on our end.”

“So… you’re saying that we should start the fight?” Dib said pessimistically.

“Basically, yes.” Zim shrugged. “But it’s them who’re coming after us. Don’t forget that, Dib.”

“And who would watch over the kids?” Tak cut in. “’Cause you don’t actually expect us to take them to that fight, right Zim?”

“Of course not!” Zim said. “Surely someone will have to stay with them.”

“I’ll do it.” Membrane offered as Zim barely finished the sentence, and everyone eyed him surprised. He sighed before continuing. “It is too late for me to apologize and, as well as I want to redeem myself, I know that that’s impossible. But protecting my grandchildren is the least I could do after all those years of neglect…”

“Dad…” Gaz let out.

“You know it’s true, daughter.” He looked at her. “Plus, I’ve missed all the important moments in my children’s lives, so I should try to stay more present in my grandchildren’s lives before it’s too late.”

“Are you sure of it, Mister Membrane?” Zim asked.

Membrane paused before replying. “I promised to keep a secret, and I’ve already lost the most precious moments in the lives of my own children… Of course I am.”

Zim smiled at him before standing. “Okay… we should probably go to sleep, now. We’ll need to rest.”

Everybody followed his lead and rose from the table, heading out the dining room and entering their rooms to sleep, but the night wasn’t over yet for Dib and Tak.

The couple entered their bedroom and Dib closed the door behind him as Tak walked to her side of the bed and kicked off her shoes, but Dib noticed that something was off.

“Tak? Are you alright?” He asked, heading over to her.

Tak didn’t reply. She simply turned to face him with lust in her eyes, though it still couldn’t hide the melancholy she felt. She began to kiss Dib and caress his abdomen under his shirt, and he gave in to her though he knew that wasn’t the best time. Tak began to pull the hem of his shirt to undress him, and Dib took off his glasses as she lifted his shirt above his head and tossed it aside. She kept kissing him and he accepted it, lifting her in his arms and dragging her to bed.

* * *

Tak eyed her husband’s sleeping figure in front of her as they both laid face to face on their sides. She still wasn’t able to get the smallest amount of sleep as memories of past events flooded into her mind.

.

.

.

It all happened about fifteen years ago. Zim and Gaz had married recently, and Dib and Tak were about five years into their marriage, but things took a huge turn on a specific night where Tak seduced Dib in front of the fireplace, just after he got home from work. She fell asleep in his arms to wake up feeling nauseous, the next morning. She jumped out of his arms and quickly jogged into the kitchen of their apartment, waking Dib up in the process. He was surprised, not to say worried, to see Tak out of anyone else throwing up in the sink.

“Tak…? Are you okay?” He asked tenderly.

Tak then turned to him, wiping the corner of her mouth. “I’m fine… just a little nauseous.”

“I can see that…” Dib said, almost sarcastically, as he approached her and grabbed her face. “You’re not sick, are you?”

Tak shook her head with a smile on her face as she removed his hands and held them in her own. “I bet it’s nothing. ‘Must be something I ate…”

“Tak.” He cut her off. “I’m serious. If you got a human disease-“

“I’m fine, Dib.” Tak cut him off. “Only because I threw up, that doesn’t mean I could be sick.”

Dib exhaled sharply. “Will you at least go have a check-up with Zim? Today?”

Tak sighed. “If that’ll make you feel better…” She agreed reluctantly.

Dib pecked her forehead before they had breakfast together and Dib called Zim to go pick her up before he had to leave to work. Tak got in Zim’s car and he drove her back to his base, but the car ride made her feel sick in the stomach again. Arriving to his base, Tak ran out the car and went to the bathroom in the hall, locking herself in it and throwing up for the second time that morning. Zim listened from the outside worried as he waited for her to finish her business. Tak came out the bathroom wiping the corner of her mouth as she stared up at Zim.

“Now you think you have nothing?” Zim quirked a brow at her.

Tak sighed, squeezing her eyes shut before responding. “Okay… let’s get this over with.”

Tak took the lead and called the nearest elevator. They rode the elevator in silence before descending to the medical bay floor of Zim’s base where he played some exams on Tak before sending her to another room as he examined the results. Tak sat impatient on a chair in the other room. She looked up at Zim, who walked into the room holding a strip of paper in his hands, staring intensely into something on it, as if he thought he haven’t read it correctly.

“Zim…?” Tak called his attention, suddenly worried by the expression on his face. “What’s wrong…? What do I have?”

Zim sighed and pulled a chair to sit next to her. He rested his elbows on his knees, looking for the right words. “Wow… how do I say this?”

“Spit it out, already!” Tak demanded. “If it’s something so bad, I don’t want you to hold me here for long.”

Zim sighed, then looked at Tak right in the eyes. “Tak… do you know that you’re pregnant?”

Utter shock stamped Tak’s features from those words, and a million thoughts raced through her mind as she fell in silence.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N:** Just a quick heads-up before you start reading this chapter: the flashback isn’t over! It continues here. Just so nobody would get confused. ‘^.^

“Pregnant…?” The words finally left Dib’s mouth after what seemed like hours to let the shocking news sink in.

He and Tak sat on the couch of their apartment. It was a few minutes he got home from work, only to find his wife lamenting herself on the couch; that was when he soot by her side and asked what was wrong, then she didn’t make much ceremony to say the words. “I’m pregnant” was all she could come up with without breaking down in tears.

They both sat in silence, trying to process what all that meant. Should they abort the baby? Should they go through with it? And, if so, would the baby grow healthy? How would the baby be treated by the other kids? The fact of being half Irken could bring a lot of complications…

“What should we do…?” Tak asked suddenly, attracting Dib’s attention. “Do you think… Do you think we should abort?”

Her words caught Dib off-guard. That fact also crossed his mind, but hearing those words aloud felt like an absurd.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down before directing himself to Tak. “I would like to say that you should be the one to decide. It’s your body after all… but I believe we should think of a solution together, since I’m part of this as well…” He paused to grab her hand, and Tak looked into his eyes for the first time since that conversation started. “We can’t be sure of the complications we or the baby will have, but we shouldn’t also be jumping to conclusions.”

“So… you think we should give this a try?” Tak asked as she quirked a brow.

“Again, we should make this decision together.” Dib continued. “I believe it’s safe to say that we’re both worried about the baby’s and your health, Tak, as well as if this kid will have a happy, carefree life… but I think that the last one is just part of being a parent… As for the fact they may not survive, or have any health issues…” Dib paused and gently squeezed Tak’s hand as if he was in pain. “We can’t know that for sure… and I know how painful it may be to keep our hopes up and have them shattered right before us… but let’s not jump to conclusions… right…?” Dib directed himself to Tak, but she only averted her gaze, as if thinking deeply about the subject. “What do you say?” He insisted.

Tak let out a breath before finally looking up. “Right.” She smiled weakly, resting her right hand on top of Dib’s own, that still held her left hand. “Let’s do this… but you have to promise me to be there whenever I need it, okay?”

Dib held her face with his free hand, staring deeply into her eyes and holding a tender smile. “I swear.”

* * *

The doorbell to Professor Membrane’s house ringed, and he left what he was doing to go answer the door, only to have the surprise of seeing his children and their wife and husband at the front door.

“Oh, hello kids!” Membrane greeted cheerily.

“Hey dad.” Gaz answered, being the first one to walk into the house and give her father a hug.

“I hope we’re not bothering.” Dib said as he walked up to his father to give him a hug as well.

“Of course not! It’s always good to see my family.” Membrane said.

Dib nodded, his face contorting into a serious expression. “Good, ‘cause we have something important to tell you.”

Membrane widened his glassed eyes by the seriousness in his son’s tone. “Oh… okay.” He cleaned his throat. “We should better sit down for this…”

Dib remained standing as all the others sat on the living room couch.

“So…” Membrane started. “What is it that you want to talk about, son?”

“Dad…” Dib paused briefly. “We’ve been keeping a secret from you.” Everyone in the room widened their eyes at Dib, except for Tak, who seemed to see that coming. Professor Membrane held a confused expression on his face as he waited for his son to finish the sentence. “We all have been keeping this secret from you… and it’s something very… important, so we count on you to keep it as well.”

“Dib, don’t-!” Gaz tried to intervene.

“He has the right to know, Gaz!” Dib cut her off. “And I believe that now’s the right time…” He looked directly to his father and paused before finally letting out. “Dad… I… _We_ wanted to tell you that… Zim and Tak aren’t who you think they are. They’re not from here.”

“I know that…” Membrane crossed his arms, quirking a brow. “Why are you telling me that, son?”

“No, dad!” Dib pinched his nose bridge in annoyance. “Can you listen to what I have to say for once…? What I mean is that they’re not humans… nor from this planet.”

“Oh, again with that old paranormal obsession.” Membrane held his face in annoyance. “I know you still believe in those stuff, but I didn’t think you would say something like that-“

Dib listened with his arms crossed, but didn’t give his father enough time to finish the sermon before nodding at his wife, who turned off her holo-disguise right by Membrane’s side, exposing her true self. Membrane nearly jumped in his seat, startled by the green creature that suddenly appeared by his side.

“Hey…” He eyed Tak intrigued. “That’s a very interesting trick you have there!” Dib and Tak eyed him perplexed by those words. “What is it? A hologram?”

“What? No!” Tak exclaimed, rising from her seat. “Look at me, Mister Membrane! Do you really think we’re joking with you?” Membrane looked surprised, and Tak sighed, trying to calm herself down. “We just thought it was best to stop hiding this secret from you, since you’re part of the family. I’m not human. This is what I really am.” Tak stretched her arms on either sides of her body as she said that. “In fact, I believe that Zim can show himself to you now, too.”

Membrane looked up at Zim who sat by his side on the couch, and he looked scared. Looking at Dib, who gave him a reassuring nod. Zim finally gave in and removed his wig and contacts, placing them on his lap. Membrane held his breath when he realized that they were serious about all that.

“W… What…?” Membrane let out with fear stamping his features. He scooted away from Zim on the couch, as if trying to stay far from him.

It was a heavy moment of silence as Membrane tried to process that information when Dib walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“We just hope you’ll understand that they mean no harm to us or any other in this planet.” His father looked up as Dib said those words. “We also hope you’ll keep this secret with us… for the sake of your grandchild.”

“… What…?” Membrane furrowed his brows, looking at Tak who nodded in agreement. He eyed her for a moment in shock before burying his face behind his hands.

“Dad…” Gaz called her father, worried.

“Is okay, daughter.” Membrane slightly rose his face to look at her. “Is just that… this is something big.” He then looked up at Dib, who seemed worried. “I’m sorry, son…” He said, looking down. “I shouldn’t have doubted you… You were right…” He let out an awkward laugh. “All this time.”

“Is okay, dad.” Dib kneeled to stay on eye level with his father, smiling up at him. “Just as long as you promise to keep this secret.”

Membrane paused to look at Zim, then Tak and lastly Dib, who kept looking at him, waiting for an answer.

“Of course I will.” Membrane nodded. Dib couldn’t see it, but figured he was smiling under his lab coat. “After all you’re all part of the family, righ?”

Dib’s smiled widened. “Thanks, dad.”

“No need to thank me.” Membrane shrugged. “It’s the least I could do.”

* * *

The days went by, then a couple of weeks… Membrane kept on his promise to keep Zim and Tak’s secret and was acting kind of… strange. I don’t mean he lost his mind or something like that, ‘cause seeing two aliens in front of him after years of believing otherwise could damage anyone’s brain; But, in reality, he was acting sort of… _clingy_ towards his kids, more as if he had an epiphany and wanted to spend more time with them, but they didn’t question it, even though it was all still very foreign to them. He even offered to help Zim and accompany Tak’s pregnancy, which meant that he would have to work with him in his underground lab, filled with Irken technology he had no idea how to use. It was very awkward to have Membrane in the lab, actually. He couldn’t stop asking how everything worked and none of them still felt comfortable about him knowing the secret.

It was Dib’s day off, so he drove Tak to Zim’s base for a routine exam; and his father, as they got used to, was already there waiting with Zim and Gaz. They all descended to the lab and Tak laid on the surgical bed while Zim placed a floating disc that looked much like some sort of mini U.F.O. above her belly.

“What is that for?” Membrane asked Zim.

“It’s something similar to your humans’ ‘ultrasound’.“ Zim explained. “It displays one’s insides in 3D holographic images.”

Membrane nodded. Usually he would show more enthusiasm face to something like that, but it seemed like those kinds of things weren’t much as big news for him, anymore.

Zim then turned on the floating disc by pressing a button on its side, and it showed Tak’s innards in holographic view. Both Zim and Tak stared intensely to the image.

“Hmmm… Interesting.” Zim let out.

“What? What is it? Is there something wrong with the baby?” Dib asked worried.

“Hm? Oh, no… They’re fine.” Zim answered as he drifted away from his train of thought.

“Then what is it?” Dib asked impatiently.

Zim paused before responding. “You’re having twins.” Was his plain answer.

Dib didn’t have much time to process before falling flat on the floor.

“Dib!” Gaz exclaimed and went to help her brother along with her father. Zim and Tak could only eye each other awkwardly at the scene.

* * *

Twins… Both Dib and Tak couldn’t help but feel all the weight that all of that would be already. One kid was already so much trouble. They didn’t even know they were ready to face two kids. Hell, they didn’t even know they were ready to face _one_ kid, and now the trouble doubled. Even though they both tried carrying on with it, they still felt worried deep down. They knew the basics of raising a human baby or an Irken smeet, but a crossbreed was too much big news for them. They had no idea as to how they should go with it, and they were having two to top it off. They didn’t even know when they should expect for their kids to be born, it was basically gonna be a surprise and then, 3 months later, the surprise came.

Dib was on his day off, taking care of Tak in the new house they bought to better receive the babies. He rushed her to Zim’s base when the water broke, and Zim himself helped with the babies’ birth. When their newly born daughter and son were safe and sound in their arms, and they could feel the warmth of their tiny bodies and hear the crying sounds they made, stopping only when they heard their parents’ voices, that was when Tak made a promise to herself: that she would never let anyone from that world or another hurt their kids, and that she would give her life to save them, if that’s what it would take. She never told Dib about that promise she made silently to herself and, even though she knew he would certainly prefer to all of them staying together for as long as it took, she also knew he would do the same for them, and would understand that choice of hers.


End file.
